david l



n. L. DAVIS.

HAT. APPLICATION FILED mu. m. 1919.

Patented May 20, 1919.

ATTORNEY m: mmms FEYERS a1, Puma-Luna. msnmumm n c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID L, DAVIS, OF SOUTH NORWALK, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICANHAT MFG. CO., INC., OF NORWALK, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATIONOFCONNECTICUT.

HAT.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I,"DAVI'D L. DAVIS, a citizen of the United States,residing -at South Norwalk, county of Fairfield, and State ofConnecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvement in Hats,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a piped welt edge for soft felt hats and to aprocess of making the same.

One of the objects of the invention is. to produce a strong and durableedging of attractive appearance, which is so constructed as to beself-curling and to maintain its curl.

Another object is to provide a soft felt hat with a welted edge havingan ornamental piping extending around the edge.

A further object is to provide a process for making a piped welt edgeout of the material of the hat brim and with minimum waste.

In the accompanying drawings illustrating my invention:

Figure 1, is a side elevation of a soft felt hat embodying the inventionand showing a portion of the brim removed to disclose the constructionof the piped welt edge, and;

Figs. 2 to 9, inclusive, are diagrammatic views illustrating the variousoperations performed in making the edging.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

To make the completed article shown in Fig. 1, I take a soft felt hat 1having a substantially flat brim 2, as shown in Fig. 2, and curl thebrim upward, as indicated in Fig. 3, by means of a suitable curlingmachine. The curl is then reversed, as represented in Fig. 4:, afterwhich the curled edge is doubled under the brim and pressed smooth.During the doubling operation it is necessary to shrink the felt so asto compensate for the consequent reduction in the diameter of the edgeof the brim.

The operations heretofore described result in the production of a brimof the character shown in Fig. 5, that is, having a doubleunder welt 3and a creased or folded edge 4:. While I prefer to make the welt in themanner set forth, it will be understood that I do not limit myselfthereto. For example, the brim may be initially curled downward as inFig. 4:, or other modifications may occur in the production of the welt8.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented May 20 1919.

Application filed January 10, 1919.

Serial No. 270,453.

The welt is then sewn to the under surface of the brim by a row ofstitching 5 formed near the folded edge 4. After the welt has beenstitched, the folded edge 4 is cut away, as seen in Fig. 7, and theinner edge of the welt is trimmed to remove the pucker caused by theshrinking of the felt in doubling the border of the brim. The purpose ofcutting away the fold 4 is to allow the weltto fit tightly against theupper surface ofthe brim when the edging has been completed. If desired,however, the folded edge may remain intact and the cutting operation maybe eliminated.

According to the process to which this invention relates, the welt 3 ismade from material constituting a part of the hat brim in its originalstate. The article may also be made by cutting a band of the size andshape required for the welt 3 from a separate piece of material, andthen swing the band to the brim as shown in Fig. 7. It will be obviousthat my process eliminates the waste of material which would be causedby making the welt separately.

After the welt 3 has been stitched and trimmed, it is snapped or turnedover the edge of the brim, as seen in Fig. 8, and the inner or free edgeof thewelt is drawn tightly and secured to the upper surface of the brimby a row of stitching 6, as shown in Fig. 9. The seam or piping 7, whichextends around the edge of the brim, gives it an ornamental andattractive appearance.

It will be seen that the piped welt edge herein described isself-curling in that the turning of the welt over the brim willautomatically curl the edge upward and will maintain the edge in curl.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The process of making a piped welt edge for soft-felt hats whichconsists in doubling down the, marginal portion of the brim to form awelt, then stitching the welt to the brim adjacent to the folded edge,then turning the welt over the edge, and finally securing the free edgeof the welt to the upper surface of the brim.

2. The process of making a piped welt edge for soft felt hats whichconsists in doubling down the marginal portion of the brim to form awelt, then stitching the welt to the brim adjacent to the folded edge,then cutting away the fold, then turning the Welt over the edge, andfinally securing the free edge of the welt to the upper surface of thebrim.

3. The process of making a piped welt edge which consists in taking asoft felt hat having a fiat brim and curling the marginal portiondownward, then flattening the curled portion against the under surfaceof the brim to form a Welt, then stitching the Welt to the brim adjacentto the folded edge, then trimming the Welt and cutting away the foldededge, then turning the welt over the edge, and finally securing the freeedge of the Welt to the upper surface of the brim.

4. The process of making a piped welt edge which consists in taking asoft felt hat having a flat brim and curling the marginal portionupward, then reversing the curl, then shrinking and pressing the curledportion against the under surface of the brim to form a welt, thentrimming the welt and cutting away the fold, then turning the welt overthe edge, and finally securing the free edge of the welt to the uppersurface of the brim.

5. A soft felt hat having a seam extending around the brim substantiallyparallel to the edge and having the portion which extends beyond theseam folded over the seam and secured to the upper surface of the brimso as to form a piped welt edge.

6. A soft felt hat having a turned Welted edge consisting of a bandsecured to the under surface of the brim adjacent to the edge, turnedover the edge, and secured to the upper surface of the brim.

DAVID L. DAVIS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

